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Gabriel 'Fuzzy' Iglesias delivers hilarious, extended comedy concert

Gabriel Iglesias has turned a corner — perhaps not the final corner for a successful comic, but certainly one proving he can headline and still be accessible to fans.

Thursday’s Iglesias show made City Bank Auditorium feel like a casual comedy club, and Iglesias fed off crowd energy throughout.

And why not? The hall was close to sellout status, and concert opener Martin Moreno kept the audience involved even before they spotted the comic whose mom insists, “You’re not fat. You’re fluffy.”

Almost unbelievably, Moreno and another guest comic, Noe Gonzalez, even turned a potentially boring commercial segment into comedy. They kept fans laughing even while hawking wares, and in fact held a venue-wide contest to find a half dozen fans who wanted a free size 6-X concert T-shirt.

(The audience voted, and a fellow named Fetsch, 19 and a Texas Tech student from Hereford, was a very happy and proud winner. I’m not sure about the first name.)

Regardless, Moreno somehow had the crowd into this, as well.

How much do Lubbock comedy fans love Iglesius? The headliner received a standing ovation when he first walked on stage.

He gave back almost immediately, explaining that the last time he performed in Lubbock was just before he taped his still scorching hot 2009 “I’m Not Fat, I’m Fluffy” live DVD in El Paso.

A platinum selling DVD guarantees increased exposure.

Iglesias provided a hilarious recounting of his week in Saudi Arabia. His manager told him that a prince in Saudi wanted an Iglesias show. The comic was certain that no one there would know him, and it must be a prank or a mistake.

He instructed his manager to get rid of them by asking for a “ridiculous” amount of money as salary. The way Iglesias put it, his manager returned in a couple days with “Ridiculous” holding on the phone.

The tale that followed is a prime example of Iglesias’ comic style. He no longer is a joke teller. The heavy comic, still in his 300s, may have told fat jokes 14 years ago. He has progressed to a much higher level.

Iglesias is more of a story teller, but his stories are about things that he either has seen or have happened to him personally — with embellishment for humor’s sake.

And the new self-deprecating aspect of his comedy is something that audiences can either just laugh at, or take to heart and learn from.

That, too, sets him apart.

For example, he freely admitted that he had stereotyped Saudi Arabia, and people from there. He eventually suggested that this is a land that could make good use of late-night television commercials.

Part of his humor also makes use of his ability to recreate sounds, noises and voices.

Iglesias’ tendency to see someone and make assumptions, another fault, comes to light when he related a tale about trying to avoid a fight with an “obvious gang member” on the stairs into a comedy club.

Instead he learns about “bear country.”

It doesn’t matter if the meeting ever took place. His goal was obviously to keep fans laughing — which he did — while exposing the mistake of prejudging others.

Iglesias remains a comic who shares himself, and human nature finds fans reacting in giving fashion. Look at Iglesias’ Facebook page and one sees that he was dining at Denny’s in Lubbock late Thursday, after his show, and stopped for a haircut at La Barber Shop in Plainview just before noon Friday.

And he invited fans to join him at both places.

Even though he mentioned that he likes chocolate cake in a show filmed years ago, six more people sent cakes backstage before Thursday’s show. He mentioned long ago that his stepson Frankie likes Transformers, and hundreds of Transformer toys came his way that year.

One of Iglesias’ comic pieces finds him talking about his wife and stepson, where not everything is sit-com perfect. Parents relate to his stories about Frankie telling lies, or not getting up for school on time.

Inevitably, his tales segue into stories, complete with sound effects, that leave fans laughing long and hard.

Iglesias accepted personal questions after the concert. One loud fan kept calling out past bits and the comic said, “I asked for questions. You’re making requests.”

The headliner told fans that he had performed for the contracted amount of time, but was willing to stay and take requests if they “really want to hear old jokes.”

He made it sound like he’s never done this before. He has.

But what is important is that he really does have memorable comic stories that fans want to laugh at anew, perhaps the funniest being “the racist gift basket,” a story that he said “almost got me banned from the ‘Tonight Show.’”

Iglesias is not squeaky clean, yet he never comes across as blue. He is, frankly, one of the best and funniest of the new generation of comedians.

Opening comics Thursday were friends that Iglesias chose. On this particular night, the best 10-minute showcases came from Moreno and Rick Gutierrez.

Gonzales also earned laughs, although his act played off his size. Alfred Robles disappointed; the audience wanted to laugh, but the material wasn’t working.

Those present, however, are probably still chuckling about Iglesias’ smooth 90 minutes of stand-up.